A stunning beauty arrived on the island; she invented everything from childcare to babysitting.

"...and a staff member from the publicity department named Qiao Shanshan," Zhao Xuemei said indignantly. "That day I thought I was mistaken and even spoke up for her, but it really was her! Isn't she just copying us?"

"Don't be angry, sister-in-law. Let her learn if she wants to. She can't learn it all by herself," Anning comforted her. "Didn't you say that they signed up for a stage play? This isn't a stage play."

An Ning was there that day too. Even if that person was Tang Qiuqiao, she was so far away, what could she see or hear?

If she simply adapts the plays for the stage, that's fine. But if she really tries to imitate them, and then compares them on stage, it will be a case of trying to draw a tiger but ending up with a dog instead.

An Ning's words of comfort were somewhat effective, but Zhao Xuemei was still unhappy.

"That's what they say, but she submitted our show herself in the first place. We helped her clean up her mess, and now she wants to put on another show to compete with us! What does she want from that?"

Zhao Xuemei grew angrier the more she thought about it, and she grabbed An Ning and gave her a long, scathing dressing-down before finally leaving.

Anning went back inside, but her daughter had not returned.

Ever since Xu Pengfei was drafted by the school teachers to perform in a show, Xiao Ni'er has stopped wanting to play with the other kids in the army.

In addition, Anning has been rehearsing with several military wives these past few days and hasn't had time to teach her, so she goes to watch Xu Pengfei rehearse every day.

After preparing the meal and delivering it to her daughter, Anning opened the newly delivered letter, which was from Chen Hai.

The oversized envelope contained a yellowed copy of "Fundamentals of Mechanical Engineering" and a few pages of letter paper.

Chen Hai told her that he found it at a flea market. Apparently, some knowledge points were changed in the new version, and he wanted to see if he could find it.

In addition, the other party discussed with her some possible modifications to existing common machinery based on the contents of the book, leaving her an opening to reply.

After reading it, An Ning smiled and, drawing on her own experiences in the future, shared some of her visions with him.

It must be mentioned that Chen Hai's handwriting is indeed pleasing to the eye, making An Ning, who is used to writing in cursive, slow down when replying to his letter.

Fortunately, her mother made her practice calligraphy when she was in school, otherwise she would have been too embarrassed to write letters back home.

By the time Anning returned from mailing the letter in a nearby town, news of Tang Qiu's clever use of connections to secure another program slot had already spread throughout the military dependents' area.

Anning could see from afar that several military wives were surrounding her, their faces bearing fawning smiles.

Although she was humiliated for speaking ill of Wang Xiuying and left the show with her tail between her legs, a military wife who can truly get along with her cannot be influenced by just a few words.

"That Shen Anning is just a woman from the countryside. You didn't see what she was wearing the first two days after she arrived at the army. She's never seen anything like this before. What kind of stage play could she possibly put on with her people? It would definitely be some old, worn-out story!"

"Exactly! I even doubt if she's ever seen a stage play. Maybe she thinks stage plays are popular and thinks she can do it too?"

Tang Qiuqiao, flattered by the other military wives, smiled even more broadly: "Hehehe! What does she know about stage plays? But it's thanks to her that I realized there are stage plays that I can perform. Once we perform, she'll know what a real stage play is!"

"Really? Then I'll wait and see the show."

Anning had already walked up behind her while she was laughing happily and said something lightly.

She swore she really didn't mean to scare the other person.

Tang Qiuqiao was indeed startled and almost fell into the arms of the military wife opposite her.

She turned around, pointing angrily at Anning: "You...you...don't you know that eavesdropping is immoral?"

An Ning returned a gentle smile: "It's better than talking badly about people behind their backs."

Tang Qiuqiao was speechless after being rebuked, and she slunk away with her three followers.

Interestingly, when her three followers left, they turned back and gave An Ning an apologetic smile, clearly not wanting to antagonize her.

After returning home, Anning asked Zhao Xuemei and learned that the husbands of the three military wives were all soldiers under Tang Qiuqiao's husband, which made things rather awkward.

If they distance themselves from Tang Qiuqiao, it could affect their husbands, and they might even face difficulties at work.

However, if An Ning sides with Tang Qiuqiao, she might have a regimental commander backing her up, and she might also be targeted.

No wonder he had such a conflicted attitude towards her.

As for the female soldier that Tang Qiuqiao found to perform with, Zhao Xuemei didn't know her either. She guessed that since there were both military wives and soldiers on their side, she brought her along to make up the numbers.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it's already New Year's Eve.

To ensure the quality of the performances at the New Year's Eve gala, all programs must be rehearsed.

Anning and her team's skit was scheduled as the third program, so they arrived backstage early to prepare.

While she was getting her makeup done, the people who were performing with Anning surrounded her, marveling at her.

"How come I never noticed how beautiful Anning is before? Her skin is as smooth as silk!"

"That's because your eyesight is bad. I've always thought Anning is very beautiful, unlike us women who come from the countryside."

"It's not my fault, it's just that Anning doesn't dress up usually! Look, she looks completely different in her military uniform!"

An Ning blinked. These people were going a bit too far to say such things just to flatter her.

Her body is indeed beautiful, much like her previous life.

The problem is that five years of neglect have made the original body unrecognizable. She looks thin and sallow. She has only been recuperating for a little over half a month now, and there are no cosmetics like in later generations. How could she possibly look as good as they say?

"Girl, how do you take care of your skin? It's so fair and smooth! My skin is so rough it could be used as sandpaper."

Someone even took the opportunity to touch her, making her blush deeply and stutter.

"Well... it's not that pretty, is it? I don't really take care of my skin, I just put on some face cream after washing my face."

Little Nier, who had been standing by, couldn't help but run to Anning's side, hug her leg, and give her a bright smile.

"Mom, you're beautiful!"

Because Xu Pengfei also had to perform, Anning was worried about leaving Xiao Nier alone, so she arranged for her to play a background role.

There are only two lines in total. Just laugh along when the finale is a happy family reunion.

In just half a month, the child's face gained some weight.

Zhao Xuemei braided her hair into two high braids, applied blush to her face, and added a beauty mark to her forehead, making her look incredibly festive.

Anning couldn't help but pick her up and kiss her: "Our little girl is beautiful too!"

The wives of the soldiers nearby also praised, "They're both beautiful. The mother and daughter are practically identical. The father is so lucky!"

"A bunch of sycophants!"

A disdainful snort came from behind them; it was Tang Qiuqiao passing by.

She was wearing a theatrical costume, which I don't know where she borrowed it from.

Zhao Xuemei wasn't afraid of her at all.

She pushed aside the others, stood in front of everyone, and stared straight into Tang Qiuqiao's eyes: "What, are you jealous that Anning is younger and prettier than you?"

But Tang Qiuqiao didn't answer. She just snorted and turned to leave.

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment:

What's she doing here?

"Who knows! It's like she's sick."

By now, the two men in the group had learned about the lawsuit between them and Tang Qiuqiao, but they were too embarrassed to say anything.

Someone else mimicked Tang Qiuqiao's snort: "They probably want to see us make a fool of ourselves!"

"Then she'll have to wait a while."

"I heard they're performing the story of 'The Heroines of the Yang Family,' but can she sing opera?"

"If she could sing opera, would she have dragged us into a chorus in the first place? Wouldn't it have been better for her to perform on stage herself?"

"Then I'd like to see what kind of performance she can put on!"